Robert Bower "Buzz" Peterson Jr. (born May 17, 1963) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

executive who is the assistant general manager for the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He has also coached

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

, most recently as the head coach of the

UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball The UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The team plays in the Coastal Athletic Association. The Seahawks are currently coached by Takayo Siddle. UNC Wilmington has appeared seven ...

team. He was fired by UNC Wilmington at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Peterson was the head coach of the

Tennessee Volunteers basketball The Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team is the collegiate men's basketball program for the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. The Volunteers (commonly referred to as the "Vols") compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athleti ...

team for four years before being fired in 2005. He previously coached a second stint at Appalachian State—he coached the 2009–10 Mountaineers, as well as the 1996 to 2000 squads. Previously, he was the men's basketball

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

and at Coastal Carolina University, a position he held until mid-2007, when he left the program to be executive (Director of Player Personnel) with the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA. Peterson, a standout at Asheville High School, was named the 1981 high school player of the year in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

over

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. He was named both a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and ''Parade'' All-American. He played basketball for

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

where he was a roommate of Jordan, who later was best man at Peterson's wedding. Peterson was a member of the Tar Heels team that won the 1982 national championship. He was later drafted in 1985 by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in the seventh round of that year's NBA draft, but chose to play overseas. In his first stint as head coach at Appalachian State, he led the

Mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

to the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Tournament Championship during the 1999–2000 season. During his single season at

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, 2000–01, Peterson led the Golden Hurricane to their second NIT championship. Peterson was a special adviser to basketball operations for the

in 2016–17. In June 2017, he was promoted to assistant general manager. In 2018, Peterson became the interim general manager for the Hornets when Rich Cho was fired by the team. The position was permanently filled near the end of the season by former

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

general manager Mitch Kupchak.

Head coaching record

References